Take a shot, go for it, take a risk, get the education, borrow money if you have to from your parents, start a business….

The line was significant because of what it told us about Romney's approach to economic opportunities. If you're a young person who can't afford rising college tuition rates and/or don't have the resources to launch a business venture, the GOP's would-be president has some advice for you: choose wealthy parents.

I mention this because a very similar point came up yesterday….

I met a guy, you may know him, Jim Liautaud, you know Jim. Jim didn't do so well in high school. He graduated number two from the bottom of his class. And he went to his dad and said, 'Look, college isn't in my future. Can I get a loan from you to start a business?' And after a little discussion, his dad agreed to give him a loan. He went out and looked to see whether he could get one of these griddles to make hamburgers and those rollers to make hotdogs and found out they were more expensive than the money he had. The only thing he could make with the money he'd borrowed from his dad was sandwiches. So he set up some tables in a garage and made sandwiches and then he delivered them to the workplace to people who wanted them. Now Jimmy John has 1,200 restaurants across this country. That's the kind of entrepreneurial spirit that you see in Americans across the country. You see, these individuals don't look to government, they instead look to themselves and say, 'What can I do to make myself better?'

It's a perfectly nice story and I'm glad Jim Liautaud has been successful. He had a good idea and produced a good product. More power to him.

But I don't think the story means what Romney thinks it means….

[W]hat about the folks who also have the building blocks for success -- the individual initiative, the drive, the ingenuity, etc. -- but don't have parents with large amounts of disposable income? In Romney's vision, these people are simply out of luck. Higher education isn't an option -- young people who can't afford to go to their college of their choice should "shop around" for some other institution, because a Romney administration doesn't intend to help with Pell Grants or student loans -- and entrepreneurial opportunities aren't really an option, either -- Romney believes small businesses should depend on parental aid, not governmental aid….

[M]y point isn't to mock Romney…. [W]hat matters here is that Romney is actively opposed to… [a] level… playing field…

Take a shot, go for it, take a risk, get the education, borrow money if you have to from your parents, start a business….

The line was significant because of what it told us about Romney's approach to economic opportunities. If you're a young person who can't afford rising college tuition rates and/or don't have the resources to launch a business venture, the GOP's would-be president has some advice for you: choose wealthy parents.

Recently...

We Are with Her!

Looking Forward to Four Years During Which Most if Not All of America's Potential for Human Progress Is Likely to Be Wasted

With each passing day Donald Trump looks more and more like Silvio Berlusconi: bunga-bunga governance, with a number of unlikely and unforeseen disasters and a major drag on the country--except in states where his policies are neutralized.

Definitely Worth Reading...

Probably Worth Reading...

Blogging: What to Expect Here

The purpose of this weblog is to be the best possible portal into what I am thinking, what I am reading, what I think about what I am reading, and what other smart people think about what I am reading...

"Bring expertise, bring a willingness to learn, bring good humor, bring a desire to improve the world—and also bring a low tolerance for lies and bullshit..." — Brad DeLong

"I have never subscribed to the notion that someone can unilaterally impose an obligation of confidentiality onto me simply by sending me an unsolicited letter—or an email..." — Patrick Nielsen Hayden

"I can safely say that I have learned more than I ever would have imagined doing this.... I also have a much better sense of how the public views what we do. Every economist should have to sell ideas to the public once in awhile and listen to what they say. There's a lot to learn..." — Mark Thoma

"Tone, engagement, cooperation, taking an interest in what others are saying, how the other commenters are reacting, the overall health of the conversation, and whether you're being a bore..." — Teresa Nielsen Hayden

"With the arrival of Web logging... my invisible college is paradise squared, for an academic at least. Plus, web logging is an excellent procrastination tool.... Plus, every legitimate economist who has worked in government has left swearing to do everything possible to raise the level of debate and to communicate with a mass audience.... Web logging is a promising way to do that..." — Brad DeLong

"Blogs are an outlet for unexpurgated, unreviewed, and occasionally unprofessional musings.... At Chicago, I found that some of my colleagues overestimated the time and effort I put into my blog—which led them to overestimate lost opportunities for scholarship. Other colleagues maintained that they never read blogs—and yet, without fail, they come into my office once every two weeks to talk about a post of mine..." — Daniel Drezner